Regaining Strength
by Wild Force Ranger
Summary: Connor and Deirbhile needed help...runs parallel with Those who do not Remember. Champions, Sidebar 1.


Author's note: You don't have to read this to follow Those who do not..., but it might help. You do need to read it to follow the rest of Powers.

Regaining Strength

For once, Paige had been having a good day. No demons had attacked lately; Chris had more or less settled in and hadn't said anything annoying for almost a whole day; she'd found some lovely boots in a sale two days before, and was planning on wearing them to P3 that night.

So when the doorbell rang, she wasn't really expecting a boy who looked half-wild, supporting an unconscious and beaten Kaia and clutching a dagger in one hand.

"Leo." he said, before she could say anything.

"Leo's not here. What happened?"

"Get him." The boy made no effort to move.

"He's not…come inside." She ushered the boy inside, gesturing him towards the sitting room.

"Where is he?" The boy stopped dead in the middle of the hall, refusing to move.

"What happened?" Paige repeated.

"We had some trouble."

"Some trouble? Kaia's…"

"Kaia?" he repeated, glancing down at the girl in his arms. "Fine. Kaia. Where's Leo?"

"Leo doesn't live here anymore."

The boy frowned. "Who's your Whitelighter then?"

"Our White…" Giving up, Paige half-turned away and called, "Chris!" Turning back to the boy, she added, "He'll be here in a minute. You want to put her down?"

"No."

"Ooo-kay…" Paige took a careful step back.

Chris materialized behind her; she spun with a startled exclamation, taking two quick steps to his side.

"Paige, what's…" Chris stopped as he noticed the boy. "Connor, right? What's wrong with Kaia?"

The boy scowled and made no attempt to answer the question. "Can you help her or not?"

"No." Chris shook his head. "Kaia's not human. I can't heal her."

"Not that you could if you could." Paige muttered. Chris glared at her.

"She doesn't need healing. She'll do that on her own." Connor said quickly.

"Then what?" Chris asked, gesturing towards the sitting room. The boy followed his lead, carefully depositing Kaia on the couch and crouching beside her.

"She needs to be awake, and I can't wake her up." He looked up at Chris. "Your witches helped her, the last time."

"They did," Chris agreed, "but I don't know what you want us to do, Connor."

"Can I get a time out here?" Paige asked. "Chris, what's going on?"

Chris looked back at her, startled. "Sorry, Paige. This is Connor; he's Kaia's Champion."

"Stop calling her Kaia." Connor muttered. "That's not her name."

"It's the name she used here." Chris said quietly. "Paige, could you go get your sisters please?"

"Yeah, but Phoebe's…not here."

"I know that." Chris said deliberately. "Can you get her, please?"

"Uh—sure." Paige said, running upstairs.

"Connor? What happened?" Chris continued.

"We were…" Connor started, and then hesitated. "She was cut off." he said finally. "From the earth. The place we were in…we got attacked. Without her…" he shook his head abruptly. "I can't wake her up."

Chris frowned, reaching out to touch Kaia's forehead lightly. "She's not under any spell that I can sense."

"I don't think it's a spell." Connor said absently, shifting slightly. Chris leaned back, very aware of the dagger still clutched in Connor's hand. "I just don't know why she won't wake up."

"What is it you want us to do, Connor?" Chris asked carefully.

"There's a place in her head…or my head…that we can go when we're both asleep. Or when I'm asleep, anyway. She might…she might think she's awake. I can talk her awake, but I need to be asleep."

"A place in her head?" Chris repeated.

"Yes." Connor didn't say any more, looking down at Kaia instead.

"What's her name for you?" Chris asked. Connor looked up, surprised, and considered the question for a moment.

"Depends who you talk to." he said finally.

"This better be good." Piper said loudly, coming into the room with Wyatt balanced on her hip. Her sisters were behind her.

Chris pushed to his feet, moving around to the back of the couch and letting Piper see Kaia.

"Kaia?" Piper said in surprise. "What's wrong with her?" she demanded, looking first at Connor, then at Chris. "And who is this?"

"He's Kaia's Champion." Paige told her.

"There's nothing wrong, she just won't wake up." Connor said at almost the same time.

"That usually means there's something wrong." Piper reminded him.

"What can we do?" Phoebe asked.

"Put me to sleep." Connor said bluntly.

"What? Why?"

"He's right." Chris said. "It's the best thing you can do to help her."

"Yes, but why?" Piper asked.

"Because once we're both asleep I can get her awake." Connor said. "Don't ask me how, because I don't know how it works." Glancing at Chris, he added, "Someone she knows set it up for us."

"Are you sure it'll work?" Phoebe asked. "We could try something else."

Connor shook his head. "Your magic won't work right on her. It will work right on me, though. It's the only thing you can do."

"There's a sleeping potion in the _Book of Shadows." _Paige offered. "Will that do it?" she added, addressing the question to Connor.

"It should. As long as I'm asleep, it'll work."

"Ok. Why don't you two go look into that, and you," Piper carefully handed Wyatt over to Chris, "go put Wyatt down, and I will see what I can do for Kaia."

They scattered to their jobs easily enough, and Piper found the first aid kit in the kitchen and came back to where Connor was still crouched possessively over Kaia.

"So who are you?" she asked, gesturing him out of her way. Connor scowled but moved.

"I'm her Champion."

"Oh? How many Champions does she have?"

"Just me."

Piper frowned. "The last time she was here, she went to see a Champion being born."

"That was me. Check her hand." he added, carefully unwinding a filthy strip of cloth and revealing a slash across her palm.

"How'd she get that?" Piper asked, beginning to clean it out.

"Breaking and entering."

He said it so nonchalantly that Piper decided not even to bother asking; instead she went back to the previous topic.

"That was you being born? That was last year."

"Long story."

Piper closed the kit and put it away. "That's why this sleeping thing will work?"

"It'll work because it works." Connor said tightly.

"You could try trusting us." Chris said, coming back into the room and tossing the baby monitor onto the desk. "She does. And can you put that away?" He gestured to the dagger; Connor glanced down as though he'd forgotten it was there, sheathing it without looking.

"She does a lot of things I don't." he told Chris. "If she didn't trust you I wouldn't be here, but it doesn't mean I have to."

"You don't trust us, but you're gonna take a potion from us?"

"She trusts you." Connor repeated.

No one spoke for a moment; then Connor cocked his head to one side. "I thought Leo was your Whitelighter." he said, addressing Piper.

"He was. Now Chris is our Whitelighter and Leo is our Elder."

"Huh." He looked back at Kaia. "She didn't tell me that."

"She might not have known." Chris offered. "We kept it quiet to keep down attacks."

Connor looked back at Chris, frowning thoughtfully, but he didn't speak.

The baby monitor gurgled suddenly and Piper rose to her feet. "I'll go see what that is, and how long the others will be. Chris, you…" she gestured vaguely towards Connor.

Connor waited patiently until she was far enough away, then asked conversationally, "So, who are you really?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're not dead, Chris. Not a Whitelighter. And there's something…wrong about you. Who are you really?"

"I'm from the future."

"Uh-huh." Connor glanced down. "She still there?"

"Not around so much, but yeah. She's still there." He shrugged. "It's not the same future anymore anyway."

"Don't bother. Timelines…" he made a vague gesture.

"How'd you get here?" Chris asked after a moment.

"What?"

"You live in LA. This is San Francisco. How'd you get here?"

"Where we were…there was a portal. She wasn't…she was awake, but not herself, but she said it was safe so I brought her through. She knew where we were and I knew to find you."

"Just like that? Who's after you guys?"

"Everyone."

Phoebe came downstairs. "We found the potion, but it's gonna take a little while."

Connor hesitated, glancing at Chris before straightening. "Can I use your phone?"

"Sure." Phoebe tossed it across to him.

Connor punched in a set of numbers and listened quietly. "Hey.…No, we're fine.…Yes, you can.…I don't know. Later.…yuh-huh. Whatever." He switched it off and tossed it to Chris.

"Who was that?" Phoebe asked.

"Her brother. Sort of." He shrugged. "It's complicated."

"Uh-huh. Well, while we're waiting for the potion, you want something to eat?"

"No." Connor glanced at Kaia and amended, "no, thank you."

"Uh-huh." Phoebe said carefully. "Chris, you think maybe you have some clothes that are _not _burnt and covered in…whatever they're covered in?"

"Sure." Chris glanced at Connor. "Might be a bit big, though."

"I've had worse." Connor muttered. Looking up, he added, louder, "Thank you."

Chris went away to find clothes. Phoebe watched Connor carefully; though he was extremely protective of Kaia, he didn't seem to speak to her or touch her as you might expect.

"So…how do you know Kaia?" Phoebe asked.

"Chris already told you." Connor said shortly.

"No, he didn't."

Connor frowned. "I'm her Champion."

"OK, but how do you know her?" Phoebe asked again.

"She came to where I was living, before. Helped us with some…" Connor hesitated, looking back at Kaia before finishing, "Some troubles we were having."

"So now you…what, follow her around?"

"Do you follow your Elders around?" Connor demanded.

"Not…most of the time…OK, bad choice of subject."

"There's some stuff happening in LA. She's been helping my father. I just got dragged in."

"So…what are you doing in San Francisco?"

"Trying to get help." Connor said tightly. "I didn't realize we'd have to answer a questionnaire to get it."

Phoebe frowned. "You don't. I'm just…"

Chris reappeared in the doorway, carrying a bundle of clothes. "Connor, you want to come change?"

"Yeah." Connor glanced at Kaia before rising and following Chris.

"You live with him?" Phoebe said to Kaia. "You're braver than I thought."

By the time he came back Paige had the potion ready. Connor looked doubtfully at it.

"This'll work?"

"Send you right to sleep." Piper promised.

"Anything else is up to you." Chris added.

Connor scowled at him. "So now what?"

Phoebe shrugged. "Drink the potion. It should work straight away."

Connor stared at it again. "It looks like blood."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Paige said. "Couldn't help it."

He grinned slightly. "Makes me feel right at home." Lifting the glass, he downed it in one.

Chris neatly caught the glass as it fell from Connor's fingers, catching him with the other hand as he slumped. "OK."

"Makes him feel right at home?" Piper repeated, taking the glass from Chris.

"His father's a vampire." Chris said absently, lowering Connor onto the couch.

"A what?"

"A vampire. A pure one, not like the ones who attacked Paige." He shook his head. "It's complicated. Angel's got a soul. He's a Champion for the Powers-That-Be. Connor is…he's not supposed to be. Son of a vampire."

"So why is he?"

Chris ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know the story properly. Some higher Power…an evil one…arranged his birth as part of her plan to be reborn into this world. Remember all that weirdness in LA, last year? That was all part of it."

"So how does he come to be Kaia's Champion? Shouldn't she get someone a little more…" Phoebe fished for a word, coming up with "Stable?"

"The first thing Connor ever touched was the earth. That marked him as hers before he'd taken his first breath."

Paige's eyes went wide. "_That's _who he is?"

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"I saw him get born! When Kaia was here…remember she asked me for a ride? We went to LA."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Phoebe asked.

"She made me promise not to. "Paige said guiltily.

"What would it have meant to you anyway? Some guy was born? It should have been years before he could have any impact on anything." Chris pointed out.

"Yeah. How does that work?" Piper asked. "I mean, he's what, nineteen? Since last year?"

"He was raised in another dimension. One where time runs faster."

"Oh. Of course he was." Phoebe said brightly.

Connor muttered something under his breath, and they turned to look at him.

"Tara? Tara!"

Connor looked around, frustrated. The potion had worked, sending him straight to sleep and to wherever it was they went, but there was no trace of Tara anywhere.

"She's not here."

He spun to see Chris standing behind him. "What are _you _doing here?"

"Not really here. Tara can't come."

Connor snorted. "She's manifesting you now?" Chris just shrugged, and Connor sighed and continued, "So where is she then?"

"Gone deep. Very deep. No sun."

Connor frowned. "Gone…oh, crap. Fine. You coming?"

Chris grinned. "I'm your guide. Can't guide you if I'm not with you." Connor shrugged indifferently, and Chris looked around. "So where are we going?"

Connor turned around, took two steps, and was standing on the docks in LA. "Here."

"Why here?"

"You know why here." He looked out to sea. "You know what she knows."

"Yeah." Chris agreed. "Not really me, after all."

Connor took another step and was on the boat, already far out in the harbor. The winch was set up in front of him, and he turned it on.

"You weren't here before." Chris observed.

"Not for the bringing him back, no." Connor agreed. "Why is she manifesting you?"

"Gonna have to ask her that. I'm just here to make sure you don't get lost like her."

"What happened to get her lost, anyway?"

The winch clanged, finishing its' run, and Connor picked up a crowbar and began working on the metal box it had retrieved.

"She was afraid." Chris stood beside him, steadying the box. "Someone in that warehouse was trying to get inside her. She hid to keep them away."

"Too well." Connor muttered, prying the lid free and reaching inside.

Tara was unresponsive as he lifted her out of the box and turned around, taking the few steps to get them back to the house. Chris followed him inside quietly.

"Think you can handle it from here?" he asked, watching Connor lower her to the couch.

"I might be able to." Connor answered, not looking up.

"Good." Chris vanished and Tara stirred, turning her head to look at Connor.

"Hey."

"Hi. Wanna wake up?"

"I wouldn't mind, but you can't." She stretched, shoving herself into a sitting position. "Who'd you find to give you a sleeping potion?"

"Your Charmed Ones."

"Not mine." she corrected him. "The Charmed Ones follow the Elders. You really let them give you a potion?"

"Like I was just gonna fall asleep on my own."

"We need to work on your being here and there together." Tara mused. "Trust me?"

"Why do you always ask that?" Connor asked.

Tara laughed and flattened her hand against his chest. "Habit, I guess. How'd you know it would work?"

"It's not a spell. Your potions work."

"Yeah, but those are my potions."

"What did I have to lose?" Connor caught her wrist. "Why him?"

"Why him, what? Also, why him, who?"

"Chris. Why did you manifest him?"

She blinked. "Did I? I didn't mean to. I wasn't really thinking. Who's Chris?"

"Their Whitelighter. How could you manifest him without even seeing him first?"

"Maybe you did it. This isn't just my mind, you know. It's our place. You have just as much influence here as I have."

Before he could answer, she glanced at her hand, still lying against his chest, and added, "Do you want to wake up or not?"

"Yes." He let go of her wrist.

"Hold still, then." A moment later, she nodded. "All done. You can wake up whenever you want now."

"Good. Are you coming?"

"Yeah." She started to fade out, and he followed suit.

"Hey, they're waking up." Paige proclaimed loudly.

"Ow. Loud noise. Head go boom." Kaia muttered, lifting one hand to her head.

"Sorry." Paige apologized. "The others are in the kitchen. How are you feeling?"

"Like an elephant jumped on me, and then I got drowned. Where's Stephen?"

"Stephen? No, Connor brought you here."

"Same person. Different names. Where is he?"

"Here." Connor appeared at the end of the couch. "You Ok?"

"Been better. Come here."

Obligingly, he lowered himself to sit on the floor beside her.

Piper came in, carrying Wyatt. "Hey, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Um, kind of…aw, look! You have a baby!"

Piper glanced at him. "Yes. For almost a year now. You knew I was having him."

"Yeah, and I knew he was born, I just…he's so cute! Can I hold him?"

"You have a concussion." Connor reminded her. "Among other things."

"Pish-posh. That's nothing. Piper?"

"Maybe when you're better." Piper said quickly, lowering Wyatt into the crib.

"Spoil-sport." Kaia said, nudging Connor with her knee. "So! Where's the new Whitelighter, then?"

"So you did know about him." Piper said.

"Nope. One of us manifested him in my head. I haven't seen him yet."

"Manifested him…in your head." Paige repeated slowly. "That's a new one."

"Meh, it happens sometimes. One of us feels strongly about something, poof!" She made a 'poof' gesture at the same time, almost hitting Connor in the head.

"Sit still." he told her.

"Why?"

"Because you're loopy and concussed. Sit still."

"Lying."

"Lie still, then. Whichever."

Kaia leaned back, idly playing with his hair. Connor gritted his teeth but didn't move away.

"Do you want anything?" Piper asked.

"A glass of water would be lovely." Kaia said, smiling. "Thank you."

"Sure. Connor?"

"No, thank you." Glancing over his shoulder, he spoke softly to Kaia. Piper couldn't hear what he was saying, but she heard enough to know it wasn't English.

"Yeah, I know." Kaia agreed. "I'm working on it."

"How?" Connor asked, scoffing.

Piper came back with the glass, and Kaia took it with another smile.

"At the moment I'm practicing not passing out." she told Connor. "Pretty soon I'll move on to sitting upright."

"You OK?" Piper asked.

"Yeah. Just…" she gestured vaguely towards her bandages. "I'm kind of tired. It's nothing."

Chris came in, glancing briefly at them before wandering over to the other door and leaning against the wall.

"You're Chris, huh?" Kaia asked, sitting up a bit higher.

"Yeah."

"Chris…"

"Perry."

"Huh." She leaned back, drinking more of the water.

"What huh?"

"No huh. Just, y'know, acknowledging. What's with the paranoia?"

"The what?" Chris looked at Connor. "Is she concussed?"

"Yes." Kaia elbowed him in the head, and he rose to his feet. "Stop doing that!"

"It's fun, and it's not like I'm hurting you." she protested.

"I don't care. Stop anyway."

"Let me rephrase that. Is she crazy?" Chris asked, rescuing the glass as she accidentally knocked it off the couch.

"It's just a reaction to…while she's healing, she's a bit…crazy. It passes, and it's not dangerous."

"This happens often?" Paige asked.

"Hi. Still sitting here." Kaia muttered. Connor glanced at her reprovingly.

"Some places are worse than others." he said after a moment.

"Good enough." Kaia announced, rising to her feet. "Let's go back to LA."

Connor stood, watching her but making no move to follow. "Sure?"

"Big girl now, Stephen. I know which way to look."

"That's…useful." Phoebe said from the doorway.

"Listening at keyholes doesn't tell you everything." Kaia told her solemnly.

"I'll…remember that. Piper? What's going on?"

"Kaia's crazy. Welcome back."

"I'm not crazy!" Kaia protested, overlapping Connor's, "She's not crazy."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Kaia's _not _crazy. Welcome back."

"You sure she's OK to leave?" Chris asked Connor.

"Yeah. She'll be fine once she heals up properly." He turned to Piper. "Thank you for your help."

"Not a problem." Piper told him, smiling.

"I didn't get to hold the baby." Kaia complained to Connor.

"Maybe the next time you're here, OK? We have to go. Angel and the others'll be looking for us."

"It's the other baby I'm really interested in, anyway. The new one." she told him.

"That's good. Maybe he'll be here the next time."

Kaia looked over her shoulders at the sisters. "I don't think so. She's not even pregnant yet."

Chris straightened, alarm obvious on his face, and Connor glanced at him before saying quietly, "You're getting mixed up with Kendall, aren't you. That's who you're thinking of, not these girls."

"Is it?" She shrugged. "I guess. Do we have to walk?"

"To LA? No. Taylor's coming to meet us. So we have to go, or we'll be late. Say goodbye."

"Goodbye." she repeated obediently. A flicker of awareness seemed to come back, and she added, "Thank you. This time I really owe you."

Before anyone could say anything they were gone; Chris turned away, calming himself rapidly.

"That was…bizarre. Even for us." Phoebe commented.

"He's kind of cute, though." Paige mused. Catching her sister's looks, she added defensively, "What? He's too young for me, and he's going out with her. But he is cute."

"They're not going out."

Chris was as surprised as they were to hear himself say that, especially since he had no idea where it'd come from.

"What? How do you know?" Phoebe asked.

"Kaia doesn't go out with her Champions. Especially not Connor. He's screwed up."

"How do you know who she is? You weren't here the last time she came to us." Piper asked.

"Thariin's famous. In the future as well as now. Connor…maybe more so."

"You know him." Phoebe said slowly.

"I saw him. Once. That's all. I never met her."

"Then how did you know who she was? And you didn't call her Thariin, you called her Kaia." Piper asked him.

"There's not many people around with her kind of power." Chris pointed out. "You guys didn't feel it? It hit me like a hammer as soon as I orbed in."

"No, we didn't." Piper said carefully. "Maybe because we've met her before."

"That could be it." Chris agreed. "Listen, I have to go, OK? I've got a lead…"

"…on who turns Wyatt." the sisters chorused. "Try not to get hurt this time, OK?" Piper added.

Chris nodded, glancing once towards the door before vanishing.


End file.
